


the girl who wished to become a ghost and the cat who wished to become a boy

by pepperedfox



Category: Kagerou Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-14
Updated: 2013-10-14
Packaged: 2017-12-29 09:37:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1003836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pepperedfox/pseuds/pepperedfox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A super self-indulgent AU KidoKano in which Kano is reborn a cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the girl who wished to become a ghost and the cat who wished to become a boy

"What’s Kido crying for? It’s not as bad as dying, you know."

Silence.

—-

Tsubomi found the cat the night when she tried running away. For the daughter of the prestigious Kido family, there were few places she could hide. The gates were locked, the servants refused to help, and if she stepped into the streets they would surely send the police to drag her back.

But they told her to disappear. They told her to vanish, and so she did, curling behind the big cherry tree in the garden, hands pressed against her ears. No matter how hard she tried, those words and those cold eyes cast at her like stones wouldn’t leave her head.

_What good are you? Get out of our sight. Go away._

She tried her best to follow what they said. Tsubomi musn’t be allowed to speak. Tsubomi musn’t be allowed to make a fuss. Tsubomi musn’t make herself known, must keep her head down, sit like a statue, do what she’s told, move to the next room as quickly as possible least they remember the mistake she was—

Without her knowing it, tears were falling. Her entire body shook with the effort to stifle the disgusting, loud sounds her lungs were trying to make. Tsubomi pressed her palms against her eyes, pushed hard enough to feel it hurt.

Something wet and soft touched her hand.

It was the nose of a cat. Its owner, a lean tomcat with matted fur, had reared up on his feet, a paw pressed on her leg. As she stared at him, the cat meowed and sat back down.

"Hey—" was as far as she got before the cat suddenly darted away. The leaves crinkled at his departure as he vanished, a streak of gold in the darkness. Dismayed, she dropped her hand.

But, to her fortune, it would not be the last time she’d see him.

—-

Fingers curled against the ground.

"I hate it when you act like that. It’s not fine for you, either. You don’t have to act like it is!"

—-

The cat came every night to the garden after that. Although she knew it’d make Mr. and Mrs. Kido furious to find her sneaking about, Tsubomi tried her best to meet him each night. Soon, it became normal for the kitchen pantry to always be a tuna can short.

Nobody would listen to a bastard like her. She was lower than the lowest, little more than dirt. But she could pretend, just for a little bit, that the cat was someone. In quiet whispers she’d tell him all those feelings pent inside her, how much the silence enveloped her always hurt, how she wished for a friend. And the cat would stay with his ears perked, golden eyes attentive. It almost seemed like he understood. Sometimes, he even meowed and sneezed as if laughing at her.

In this way, she could pretend. Tsubomi could still smile, no matter how hard they pushed her down.

In the end, however, a cat was only a cat.

—-

"How harsh, how harsh. What’s Kido so afraid of?"

She swallowed.

—-

The cat with no name sat by the windowsill. All was quiet and dark, with no signs of life. The girl who would open the windows and feed him was late. Tail flicking, he waited.

The sun came up. The cat still waited.

Eventually, his sharp eyes sensed movement inside. Pawing at the window, he meowed loudly for her to open the window so they could play again.

The window remained shut.

—-

His hand rested on her shoulder.

"Is she worried that I’ll forget? That’s awfully sweet of Leader."

"Shut up."

—-

The mansion was easy for a small animal like him to slip through. When the servants left the window open to air out the kitchen, the cat snuck in without a sound. The place was mixed with many smells—of food, of carpet, of many other humans—but he could catch the faint whiff of hers. He darted, sticking close to the walls, but he could see no sign of the girl.

Day after day it was the same. No matter where he looked, all that greeted him were angry voices quibbling over some matter he couldn’t understand.

On his last day in the mansion, he heard a familiar voice crying and scratched at the door. The weak scent he had followed for days was strongest here. The cat scratched and meowed at the door, but it was useless. His paws couldn’t reach the doorknob. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t squeeze in from under. A servant found him and chased him out shortly after.

From then on, the windows were locked tightly.

If he could have only passed through that door…

But for a cat like him, it was surely impossible.

—-

She squeezed her arms. “It isn’t fair,” she said.

He couldn’t answer her.

—-

The girl eventually came back. When the window opened again at last, the cat nipped her finger. Her smile came slower than usual, and it shook as she picked him up.

"I’m sorry." She spoke so softly that the cat had to tilt his head to hear. "I didn’t mean to leave you like that."

There were fast, angry noises beyond her door, the rising and falling of human voices. The girl hunched her shoulders, setting him down on her bed.

"Wait here," she said, and climbed out the window.

—-

"Don’t you know?" he asked at last. "It doesn’t matter."

—-

The warm summer wind blanketed Tsubomi, whipping her skirt as she climbed to the rooftop. Once or twice her bare foot slipped, and it was only out of instinct that she managed to regain her grip. Higher and higher she climbed, until at last her feet touched the scorching tiles of the roof.

Somewhere, in the house, they were arguing over her. In this large box they called _their_ home, they whispered how best to get rid of her. They found out about her nighttime escapades and played their roles, shouting and scolding her, shoving her down, pounding those relentless words into her ears:

 _Disappear disappear disappear_.

Up here, Tsubomi could see the blue sky stretch over her like a painted ceiling. It was a remarkably clear day with little to no clouds in the way.

It was the perfect backdrop to stage her disappearance.

Trembling, she walked. The tiles hurt her feet, but that would soon stop. If she ran, maybe it wouldn’t make her so afraid.

Her eyes hurt. But this time, she won’t cry. If she died crying, her ghost would only weep. So, with a faltering smile, she ran forward. Her left foot crossed the border between life and death, sticking out into the open air.

Something held her back. She could not leap.

—-

"Even if you forget my face, I’ll find Kido again."

—-

A boy with cat-like eyes was grabbing her arm. His hand was soft and warm. Precariously, Tsubomi wavered on the edge, foot halfway between terracotta and open air.

He pulled and she fell. He stumbled back as she clung to his chest, her eyes stinging.

Overhead, the faint sound of an airplane echoed. Tsubomi dipped her head and her shoulders shook, trying hard to breathe.

"Gotcha."

—-

"It’s a promise."


End file.
